Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

Snyder steps up out-of-state travel to promote Michigan

Paul Egan
Published 8:06 p.m. ET April 21, 2015

Gov. Rick Snyder, having mostly recovered from an injury that restricted his travel, is stepping up his out-of-state appearances as supporters raise money through a new nonprofit foundation to offset the associated costs.(Photo11: MICHIGAN.COM)

LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder, having mostly recovered from an injury that restricted his travel, is stepping up his out-of-state appearances as supporters raise money through a new nonprofit foundation to offset the associated costs.

Snyder is “working aggressively to tell the Michigan story ... now that we have significant and notable accomplishments that we can discuss and point to,” spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said Saturday. “It’s about helping address the perception lags reality challenge that we have — both with Detroit and for the state as a whole.”

Snyder wants to talk about the state’s accomplishments, including the financial turnaround of Detroit as it emerges from bankruptcy, the addition statewide of nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs, a drop in the state’s unemployment rate to 5.6% in March from double-digit levels when Snyder took office in 2011, an improved credit rating and reduction in long-term debt, Wurfel said.

On April 27, Snyder will speak in Santa Monica, Calif., as part of a four-member panel about Detroit’s economic recovery at the Milken Institute’s 2015 Global Conference.

The other panelists are Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert, former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr and Kenneth Buckfire, whose financial firm played a key advisory role in the bankruptcy.

The institute is a nonpartisan think tank that promotes wider access to capital to create jobs and improve health.

In early May, Snyder will be in New York for a visit aimed at attracting businesses to Michigan and “showcasing the state’s steady and strong financial position and comeback,” Wurfel said.

Snyder also will be attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25 as the guest of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

As Snyder steps up his travel, supporters are raising money for a new nonprofit foundation to offset some of the related costs, such as airfare and hotels.

A 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, Making Government Accountable, was incorporated in March by Peter Ellsworth and Peter Kulick, two attorneys with the Dickinson Wright law firm in Lansing, records show.

A 501(c)(4) foundation gets its name from the section of the Internal Revenue Service code that authorizes such foundations to accept unlimited corporate donations without publicly disclosing the identity of donors.

Wurfel said the foundation is designed to help cover travel expenses associated with telling the Michigan story. Whether public funds also will be used for Snyder’s out-of-state travel will depend on the nature of the specific trip, she said.

Snyder announced in December he would be increasing his out-of-state travel to raise Michigan’s profile in a positive way. But those plans were delayed when he tore his Achilles tendon over the New Year’s holiday, which led to the complication of a blood clot in his leg and severe restrictions on his ability to travel. He has mostly recovered from that injury.

Snyder’s rising national profile, combined with his repeated assertions that “Washington is broken,” have led to speculation he is considering a run for president in 2016. Snyder has done little to tamp down the speculation, which he has confirmed he sees as another way of raising Michigan’s profile in a positive way.

“Anything that helps to promote Michigan’s image nationally is good for our state,” said Ann Arbor businessman Ron Weiser, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and former GOP national finance chairman.

“I can’t speak to whether he has other motives.”

But most analysts see a Snyder presidential bid as highly unlikely.

He has no national campaign organization and has raised no presidential campaign money. Republican presidential hopefuls are heading to states with early influence such as Iowa and New Hampshire, not New York and the Democratic stronghold of California.

As a supporter of Medicaid expansion, Snyder would be at a disadvantage in GOP presidential primaries that tend to favor candidates who skew to the right.

Even his talk of Michigan’s economic comeback has been tempered by the recent evaporation of projected state budget surpluses and the need for sharp cuts to offset recently discovered deficits.

Snyder has blamed the unexpected deficits on a surge in corporations redeeming hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits issued mostly by prior administrations.

But Democratic critics, who say Michigan’s improving economy is mainly due to the bailout of the automotive industry and the policies of President Barack Obama, say the tax credit issue would not have created a blip on Michigan’s balance sheet were it not for more than $2 billion of corporate tax cuts that have been pushed by Snyder and passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature since Snyder took office.